South Florida PGA Mourns the Loss of Dave Cunliffe, PGA
The South Florida PGA lost a dear friend, a husband, great player of the game and supporter of the South Florida PGA Foundation with the passing of PGA Professional Dave Cunliffe on March 25th.
Dave was more than just a golf professional, playing a vital role in the Foundation’s Smiling Fore Life program at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. Every week for more than six years, Dave visited Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital for an hour to bring golf to the hospital patients, taking their minds off the hardships they were facing.
There was one patient he connected with on a deeper level - a young man named Joel who was a regular during Dave's weekly visits to Joe DiMaggios Children’s Hospital. Their instant connection had Dave wanting to do anything to help Joel during his time at the hospital, especially when Joel was absent from the program while undergoing a heart transplant.
Once Joel was healthy enough to return, Dave presented him with a set of golf clubs donated by the Don Law Golf Academy as well as a few signed gifts and a personal message from PGA Tour member, Eric Compton who successfully underwent two heart transplants.
Stories like this truly show just how passionate and caring Dave was, always inspiring others.
“Dave was one of my best friends and probably the most popular player on the Treasure Coast Senior Tour,” said Jerry Tucker, Master PGA Professional at Jerry Tucker Golf. “He won our first Sportsmanship award and we could have given it to him every year!”
Moving forward, the Treasure Coast Senior Tour Sportsmanship award will be called the Dave Cunliffe Sportsmanship award, said Tucker.
Dave will be greatly missed by the south Florida golf community.
To read more about his relationship with Joel and the impact Dave had on him through the game,
click here.
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